Pacifier Addiction - Helena,MT

Hello,

Don't be worried. My son is 21 months old and still loves his "Paci". I think that taking it away slowly is better anyway. My son has it at home but they will not give it to him at school. I think that is why he asks for it right away when we get home.

Stefani

I had a binki addict also. She was down to just bedtime by 15 months. We waited to take it away from her at night until she was a little older & we could explain what was happening. I think it was around her 2nd birthday when we told her that she was a big girl now & big girls don't use binkis. We threw them all away together. She had a tough time for 1-2 nights and she's never looked back since. Good luck!

I would take it away as soon as you possibly can. I've discussed this issue with 3 different speech therapists since my 4 month old is a binkie baby. They have all told me that you should take it away by 1 so that there are no speech delays. I'd do it now if you can.

You actually know best about the when. You know him, and your family best, there is no best age or time. If you keep getting a nagging feeling to do it now, do it. I just took my 15 mo olds pacifier away. Just make sure he has something to replace the soothing, if he's particularly attached to them at night. With my first, it was a crib projector and a helicopter, with my 15 mo old it is teddy bears. And good luck.

As soon as you can see the pacifier is starting to pull his front teeth forward you want to work on taking it away. If the pacifier continues to pull his front teeth forward it will cause an open bite. You will be looking at braces down the road if it affects his bite. The longer he has his pacifier the harder it can be to take away.

My first child was 23 mos. when it was starting to move her teeth. She just happened to throw it while we were on an airplane flight home and we told her she threw it and now its lost. She cried the whole way home, but after a day or two she was fine without it. She still remembers to this day that she threw her binkie on the airplane and it got lost! She will be 5 in feb.

My 20 mos. old loves her binkie and it is starting to move her teeth so we are 1st only letting her have it for naptime and bedtime. I am not sure what we are going to do. It seems people have good luck with the fairy thing. Our pediatrician suggested cutting the tip off, and keep trimming it until it no longer works.

Well, good luck!

Hi Lori-
My son had his paci until he was a little over 3. I didn't let him have it in public to avoid the crusty looks from people with perfect kids, lol. There was a window of opportunity when I should have taken it away at about 18 months, but my husband kept sticking it in his mouth. When the time came to take it away it wasn't a big deal, he saw a truck at Walmart that he really wanted and I told him that if he gave up his paci he could have it. Well, he did! He asked for the pacifier 2 or 3 times and I reminded him that he had a truck instead and that was it! Everyone's situation is different, but I believe that things can be made into a big deal. Avoid a power struggle, have a casual attitude and these things are easy!

Don't take it away...just let him naturally lose interest, or if you happen to misplace it, just don't buy another one. We have given all our children pacifiers from birth, and not one has ever become reliant on it, it just seems to naturally fall out of our lives! I am sure he will just not need it some day, and then you can hide it and just let him go on with his little life! Good luck!

My daughter was just over 2 when we tried. It took some time because she loved it. About a month after having it gone, she started having night terrors. She would start crying and then screaming, not being fully awake. She would not even remember in anything in the morning. After a whole month of this, in the middle of the night, she finally screamed at me "I want my binky!!". I was floored. It had been a few months but Wow! We talked about it again when she was awake and she kind of giggled about it and she said she didnt want it anymore, (she was a very mature 2 yr old) So, be prepared for some post binky blues too. :)

Lori...

It is not going to be EASY!! Three or Four days of PURE....Well you know! But it is so much easier if you do it sooner than later! My nephew had his until he was ****SIX****!! It has a living nigtmare...lol! Once they are older then they can verbally express their want, lay on the guilt and are relentless! His parents would be running to the 24hour market in the middle of the night so HE and THEY could just get some relief from his demand for it! Even at about 3 kids would questions his reliance on it and even make fun. He also had to have his 4 front teeth removed at about 3 because of ROT. They were so decayed they could not be capped. My SIL was having him brush twice daily, but it wasnt enough to fight it off. He is 8 now and STILL hasnt gotten his permanent teeth!

I would have to say...make it easier on everyone and do it now! I took my kids away before 1 year! It wasn't fun...but it sure was NIGHT and DAY compared to my nephew!

Hi Lori,
From a Mom who has dealt with both speech issues and orthodontics, I would encourage you to help him learn how to be without the pacifier as soon as possible.
I know it's hard, but you both can do it!!
Take care,
B.

I'll share my personal experience. My little boy is also 15 months old. A few weeks ago, I realized that he had his pacifier in his mouth pretty much all the time. I didn't like having to be dependent on having the binky with me all the time, just in case he needed it, so I decided that I would stop giving it to him except for naps and bedtime. I just wouldn't even let him see the pacifier during the day. Since he couldn't see it, he didn't miss it. But then he learned to associate the pacifier with being put in his crib, so he started to refuse it. After a few days, I just stopped giving it to him since he wasn't taking it anyway. Now he doesn't use it at all. The positive side is that he doesn't even need it anymore - he puts himself to sleep and actually sleeps better than he did when he had the pacifier all the time. And when he wakes up at night, I don't have to go in and find the binky for him, like I used to. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have that quick fix for fussiness, but I love the freedom of not being dependent on the pacifier anymore. I don't mind soothing him in other ways, like extra cuddles.

I didn't purposefully set out to get rid of the binky, just reduce his pacifier use so he didn't have it all the time. But I'm glad things turned out the way they did.

I would say let him have it... don't worry about what others think or try and measure him up to a certain standard.
He is still very little and if he needs that comfort then so be it. I mean if he sucked his thumb, you couldn't get rid of that?!
As he gets older you can start to transition him to perhaps only needing it at night, so that during the day "big boys" don't use it, but for now I don't see why you should worry.
He isn't heading off to school with a binki in his mouth :)
You will see as he gets older he will learn to cope without it. Good luck!

I vote for later. Dentists and orthodontists say age 3 is fine. And thats when kids have all their teeth in and are more able to develop new habits to soothe themselves to sleep. When he does get older the kinder, gentler way of weaning him is to cut the tops off slowly; take the tips off little by little until there is just a nub left. You want your kids to be able to have a little time to develop a new habit, cold turkey always seemed a little harsh to me at such a tender age.

GL!

It is easier to get them to forget what they are dependent on NOW! Take his bottles away first, just do it one day, out of sight out of mind.
Later it will be a power struggle when they go into toddlerhood to try and get rid of them. Start by taking it away during the day and just save it for naps and bedtimes,then in a few months take away the nap ones, then the bedtime ones. He is still young, typically they say to take it away at the year mark but I wouldn't worry too much when he sleeps yet.

I have personally seen what the damage does to the roof of their mouth and front teeth from one of the boys I watch, but his parents took it away by 2 and everything went back into place in his mouth. They made a big deal out of it on his second bday to get big boy toys and throw the pacies out, he did just fine.

Just keep it out of his mouth during the day if you can, replace his need for comfort with a lovey or stuffed animal, that will make the night time transition easier when you decide to do it.

I would say you're doing pretty well having them only at night by now. My kids were all very pacifier addicted. With my first, we took them just after she turned two and gave them to the Passie Fairy to give to all the babies who didn't have any. This worked well for her because of her personality. At about 18 months, we tried taking our twins' pacifiers away, but they started sucking on their hands when they were upset instead. I didn't like the idea of all the dirt and germs from their hands going in their mouths, so we gave them back. They were obviously not ready to give them totally up at that age if they were sucking on other things (like their hands, shirts, blankets, etc...) They are now just over two and can only have them at night, but we are going to take them away at night now as well. As far as whether to do it now or later: Try it now. See what happens. You'll know whether he's ready to give them up or not. If he's not, I see nothing wrong with continuing to let him have them at night for a little while longer. But in my opinion, they shouldn't have them much past two. Or much past when they can talk and ask for it. When they can do that, they can express their emotions, and should instead of popping in a passie.

I would say the sooner the better. The younger he is the easier it is to be distracted with other things and he wont remember it at all. If you wait it will be more of a struggle and more emotions are involved. Cold turkey , get rid of them all for your sanity and for his health. Then you could move on to the next stage. To help him sleep i would suggest chasing christmas light with music and that wuld be a great distration for bed. Good luck and god bless

Take it away now. I also have 15 month old who loves her paci, but she started waking up about 3 in the morning and crying for me until I came in, only to tell me that she needed her paci again... it was still in her crib, in sight and everything. We took it away to stop that. You'll deal with about 3 days of sleep issues when you take it away (and maybe the occasional issue after that), but it will be worth it. a 15 month old (according to our pediatricition) is over the oral fixation stage that can lead to thumb sucking if you take it away too early and it will only get harder to take it away the longer you wait. They get attached... GOod luck! We "lost" our last one the other day (woke up inconsolable in the middle of a nap and she got it... I'm pretty sure its behind/under her crib, but I'm not going to make any efforts to get it so that next time she "needs" it she'll just have to do without it).

My twins had theirs until they were 2 but they had it only for sleeping. They were addicted to them. What we did was slit the bottoms of them so that when they started to suck on them they went flat. My son gave them up instantly. My daughter we had to take them and cut up over the tip before she would give them up. I feel that if they can walk they can give up the pacifier, but it was harder to take them away from the twins.

The sooner the better!!! Our daughter was addicted to the pacifier and we FINALLY took it away when she was almost 4 years old (the older they get the more they will fight to keep it). She is 6 now and the dentist has already mentioned that she is going to require some orthodonic fixes. He thought she was a thumb sucker, I was quite embarrassed to admit it was actually the pacifier that had affected her teeth.

Good Luck, our daughter actually did pretty well when we took it (it was a bedtime thing only by this point). I do regret letting her keep it for so long and I am glad that the next two babies stopped wanting the pacifier on their own around 6 months old.

Hi Lori! My daughter was the same way, extremely addicted to the pacifier. We weaned her down to just using it for sleeping around two years old, but even that was a battle. Since she was not a great sleeper anyway, her pediatrician wasn't worried if she only used it to sleep. We did not get her to give it up completely until she was 3 months shy of 3 years old (I am embarrassed to admit) when we told her that Santa came and took her "nuks" to give to babies who needed them. Don't feel bad about your little guy wanting the pacifier...its just a comfort thing. Good luck!

You know, I have such mixed emotions about this question. My son is also hooked on his pacifier, but he is now 2.5 yrs old! We only have one left and he only uses it to sleep, but he cries if it falls out of his bed in the middle of the night. (he is still in a crib.) Last night I was up 5 times to get if for him!!

In retrospect, I would say "take it away now!" It would be so much easier to transition a 15 month old than a 2 or 3 year old!

Honestly, we just haven't done it yet because our son is such a GOOD sleeper when he has it...and we are nervous for ourselves! ( I know that isn't right!) :o)

Best of luck! I look forward to reading your other responses.

L.